Royale Equestrian Centre History

Royale is a family-run farm that was built with love and passion by Dawn Patterson and her daughter Emily . The farm was established in 2007 and is conveniently located right in the city of Ottawa near Barrhaven.

We are passionate about horses and love to share our passion with others. We are committed to the care and well-being of our horses as well as providing our riders with many great opportunities to allow them to learn, grow, and achieve their goals while creating lasting memories, friendships, and  having lots of fun along the way.

We offer programs that are designed with an emphasis on ensuring that our students are safe, build confidence, learn valuable life skills and  receive a comprehensive and well-rounded education. The programs are aimed towards riders that are passionate about horses and want to not only learn but have fun. 

We also offer corporate team building and leadership programs, equine-assisted learning life skills programs for schools, groups and organizations as well as school field trips.

Scroll down to meet the team! We would love to have you join our team and barn family.

Meet The Royale Team

We are very lucky to be surrounded by an incredible team of people from coaches, staff, volunteers, supporters, riders, family/parents, and horses. Including our wonderful; farrier, vet, chiropractor and more... It's a team effort and we are so proud to have such a strong, knowledgeable, and kind supportive team behinds us.

As Founder & CEO at Royale Equestrian Centre. Emily is fueled by her love and passion for horses and sharing this passion with others.

Emily started riding at the age of 4 and was instantly hooked. She has a unique perspective drawing on years of diverse experience from a variety of disciplines and successful roles in the equine industry. She continues to be committed to learning on a daily basis. Emily is very passionate about horse care and is Licensed Equestrian Canada Competition Coach, a Certified Equine Massage Therapist as well as a Certified Equine First Aid Instructor offering various certification courses and clinics though Equi-Health Canada and Equi-First Aid USA. In 2019 Emily also became certified in Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator though Equine Connection.

With an interesting and diverse background Emily  first learned to ride hunters and was lucky to learn all about the development,  training  and what it took to compete top show horses on the AQHA circuit in the USA in  western pleasure,  equitation, hunter under saddle, trail etc.,  She then moved on to Show Jumping and later to Fox Hunting, Dressage and successfully competing in Canada and the USA in Eventing up to the 2 Star Level. Dressage being the foundation for all riding she has been lucky to train on quality horses in the upper levels of dressage and even enjoys going calf sorting on her reining horse. As a teen Emily drove a teams of work horses,  would spend hours bareback on any horse she was allowed to ride, from a young age was breaking and training green and problem horses, teaching lessons, caring for large numbers of  horses, and even trimming hooves! Any opportunity to ride and learn she took and  gained incredible knowledge and experience working in various roles from: trail guide, stable hand, working student, show groom , trainer, coach,  to barn manager and more.

Emily,  her horses and her students have achieve much success on the local Jumper and Dressage Circuits and Nationally in Eventing.  She remains committed and dedicated to her own riding, education, horses and students. Always looking for area's of improvement and happy to share her knowledge, experience, and passion with others. Emily is easy going, driven, motivated, goal oriented and always working on providing  great learning opportunities to help not only herself and her horses but for all the coaches who teach and students that ride at the farm..  From attending clinics, having special guest coaches, trips and more.. She keeps the barn's schedule busy!

Emily  has been very fortunate to ride with and learn from some of the best in the industry including; Jimmy Wofford, Phillip Dutton, Paul Popiel, David Wilding-Davies, Denny Emerson and many more.. She loves developing young horses and has a particular knack for being able to quickly assess and read unfamiliar horses and adapt the training to suit each individual horse. Emily believe that great training always starts with quality horse care and horsemanship from the ground up, She enjoys and takes great pride and satisfaction in helping her team and students  to reach their personal goals!! She has helped countless people turn horses into a career, including helping them to successfully pass their EC rider levels and coaching certification exams, and learning what it takes to successfully coach, train, and run a barn.  

Emily is a strong supporter of her riders and the local community.  Her philanthropic view and efforts have had a huge impact. She is always ready and happy to help her  local community, her riders, and staff.  

Dawn Patterson

CFO, Royale Equestrian Centre

CFO of Royale Equestrian Centre, and Emily's mother and business partner.  Dawn started REC with Emily in 2007 and helped in developing and growing our business into what it is today. 

Dawn not only helps run the business, she also works full time as a Chief Officer of the Agricultural Surveys for the Government of Canada.

Dawn also had a passion for horses at a young age.  As a child she would spend all her time riding the neighbor's horses and competing in local shows. She later  became  a veterinary assistant when she was in her late teens early twenties.She brings a wealth of knowledge  and experience to our team and REC wouldn't be what it is today without all her hard work and support .